


Target Practice

by AutisticMob



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: AU sorta, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Bisexual Character, Canon Character of Color, Canon Gay Character, Canon Gay Relationship, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Lesbian Author, M/M, One Shot, Oneshot, Shooting Guns, T rating due to language and implied past sexual assault, Target Practice, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, babys first bafish fic, i love them, idk what else to tag this as ghkjkhghjkkl, this is gay and sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-02 23:03:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16314317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutisticMob/pseuds/AutisticMob
Summary: Ash teaches Eiji how to use a gun, learning about their relationship in the process.





	Target Practice

**Author's Note:**

> My first banana fish fic FUCK yes. im so invested in this anime!!! expect more where this came from

“Ash, please teach me how to use the gun!” Eiji pleaded. Ash gifted him a gun, but Eiji didn’t know how to use it. He felt stupid for not knowing, but guns were illegal in his home country, so it came as no surprise he had no idea how to use one. 

Ash raised an eyebrow, glancing over at the other. “Why?” He questioned. Did Eiji not know how?

Then again, shooting wasn’t something everyone knew how to do. Hell, he only knew because Dino had taught him. 

Eight-year old Ash knew how to do it out of sheer instinct, though.

He figured that it was only because he’d been so overcome with sadness and anger at having his childhood robbed from him that something inside him snapped. 

“I want to be able to protect myself! I don’t want to feel like a burden to you...” Eiji mumbled, casting his gaze towards the floor. 

“I can show you,” Ash told him, causing the other to perk up a bit. 

“It’s not too hard once you get the hang of it. Besides, you’re smart, so you’ll pick it up easily,” Ash smiled, his eyes sparkling with a familiar fondness for the only person in this world who seemed to care for him. 

Eiji blushed, earning a soft laugh from Ash. 

“C’mon. Let’s go outside. Take those empty bottles with us,” Ash told him, pointing to several empty bottles of alcohol on the table. “We can use them for target practice.”

Eiji turned his head and looked at the place that the other was pointing, nodding and snatching up the bottles, holding them close against his chest. 

Ash smiled a little at how cute Eiji looked, motioning for the other to follow him as he got up from his bed.

The two crept out of the house and into the yard. A treeless space that overlooked an endless expanse of water greeted them, an old friend of Ash’s. An ancient-looking fence made from wood now in a state of decay sat at the corner of the yard, marking some long-gone invisible property line. 

Ash took the bottles from Eiji, lining them up atop the fenceposts, creating a row of glass targets of varying sizes. 

Eiji watched as Ash set up the bottles, his gaze drifting up towards the ocean, painted orange by the rising sun. Clouds drifted across the multicolored morning sky, and the smell of salty ocean water filled his mouth and nose. A cool morning breeze blowing off the ocean ruffled Eiji’s hair, retuning it to the same state it had been in when he’d crawled out of bed earlier. 

Eiji took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of salt water mixed with ozone. In all his years on the island that was his home, he’d never seen a place quite like this. 

Maybe it was because of Ash’s presence. If it weren’t for him, he wouldn’t even be at the other’s childhood home. 

For a place of such bitter memories, the surroundings were pleasant. Eiji couldn’t imagine why anyone would ever want to leave. 

But for Ash, the memories had already started leaking into his mind once more. The feeling of those hands that touched him only for their own gain pressed against his skin; his body aflame with vile memories of the tragedy that shattered his childhood nine years ago. 

Irritation spawned from the disgusting feeling rising up in Ash’s gut, getting the better of him.

“Let’s get a move on,” Ash called out, trudging across the unkempt grass of what was once the yard he played in as a boy. 

But what had happened changed everything. No longer was the grass an infinite stretch to run and play catch, instead now transformed into an endless expanse of mud that sucked at his feet, threatening to pull him down into it for good. 

When Ash was finally standing beside Eiji again, the tidal wave of shitty emotions he was feeling began calming down. It was like Eiji’s very existence radiated _calm_. Ash’s body, a war zone, and his mind, a hellscape that had never once known peace except for at the very fringes of his childhood, felt at ease around him. 

“Ash?” Eiji turned his head, looking over at the other. Ash’s pretty blonde hair clung to his face, now a tousled mess from the wind having blown it every which way, and for once, he looked unkempt. Not in a bad way, though. Ash looked almost childish; angelic, as if he’d been running about and playing. 

“Right, right, I know. The gun,” Ash muttered, taking a step back and to the right as to be behind Eiji. Eiji gripped the gun with both hands, his knuckles white as he kept the barrel aimed towards the ground, holding close to his body. 

“Okay, raise your arms up so they’re out straight. Handguns like these have a little kickback, so you need to keep them straight to absorb the shock,” Ash told him, resting his chin atop Eiji’s shoulder. 

Eiji nodded, lifting his arms up and holding the gun out straight. Ash noticed Eiji’s hands shaking, and, out of sheer instinct, slid his own hands down the other’s arms, placing his hands atop Eiji’s. 

“Here, like this,” he breathed. “Relax your arms a little. You want to be firm, but not stiff. Your arms will get cramps if you’re too tense.”

The other relaxed his muscles a bit, still keeping the gun cocked. 

“Okay, next you turn off the safety,” Ash told him, sliding Eiji’s thumb up and pressing it against the small bar on the side of the gun. The blood in Eiji’s carotid was pounding against Ash’s cheek, spreading a burning heat throughout his neck. 

Eiji flipped the switch, his unsure fingers guided by Ash.

“Now that the safety’s off, that means the gun can fire. You have to make sure the chamber has a bullet in it, though,” Ash explained, wise beyond his years in knowledge relating to guns. 

It wasn’t like he had a choice either way. 

Eiji looked down at Ash, his cheeks flushed and his windswept hair sticking to his face in strands. “How do I do that?”

A smile tugged at the corner of Ash’s lips. He lifted his head up, pressing his body against Eiji’s. “Put your hand on this part here,” Ash instructed, placing his hand on the sliding metal piece that covered the top half of the weapon. 

Eiji nodded, placing his hand over Ash’s. 

Ash couldn’t help but stifle a chuckle a little at how sweaty Eiji’s hands were. 

“Now pull it back. You have to pull a bit hard, so feel free to lower it a bit. Make sure not to point it towards your feet,” Ash cooed, taking a step back to allow Eiji more ease in loading the gun. 

With a small grunt, Eiji pulled the slide backwards, grinning as the satisfying click of a cartridge loading and the slide lock clicking down into place graced his ears. 

“Good job,” Ash congratulated, giving Eiji a pat on the back. “Okay, it’s ready to fire now. Lemme give you a few tips, okay?” 

Taking his place behind Eiji once more, he guided the other’s arms towards one of the targets, his hands once more atop Eiji’s, where they felt most at home. 

“This part on the end is the sight. Look down it, and place the target right in the center. It’ll help you aim. Make sure you keep your arms as still as possible.” Ash’s warm breath against Eiji’s ear caused him to shudder. 

Eiji’s hands didn’t shake as he lowered his head a bit, closing his right eye as he looked down the sight, centering one of the bottles inside it. Ash’s hands held his hands in place, keeping his arms still. 

“Good. Now for the fun part. Put your finger on the trigger,” Ash smirked, moving his pointer finger down on the trigger, resting against the other’s. Firing a gun had become second nature to Ash at this point, and the deadly routine seemed as natural as breathing; something that required not even a single thought. 

How terrifying, then, that even something that simple stood testament to all the violence Ash had seen throughout his short seventeen years of life. 

“Go ahead and push it. You’re gonna feel a bit of recoil when it fires, so make sure you have a good grip,” Ash told him, tightening his hold around Eiji’s hands. He wanted to make sure the recoil didn’t hurt the other’s arms too much. 

Eiji nodded, and Ash looked up at him. His deep brown eyes remained focused down the sight, and his bottom lip stuck out in a concentrated purse, making it appear as though he was pouting. 

Ash’s heart was pounding in his chest, fluttering against his ribcage as their eyes met. He found himself yet again captured by Eiji’s alluring beauty, struggling to stay afloat in the vast brown oceans of his round eyes. 

Ash couldn’t help but reach up and brush a few bits of his soft black hair from his face, especially the locks near his eyes that would have screwed up his aim. Something about Eiji’s hair drew him to want to touch it. 

“Just helping you out,” Ash teased. “It’s a little hard to see when you’ve got hair in your face.”

Refocusing himself, Eiji pulled the trigger, causing the loud gunshot to ring out across the vast space in front of them. It seemed to carry forever on the wind, which stirred a bit of worry in Ash’s heart that Dino’s men may find them and kill them. 

No. 

Killing _him_ would be merciful, but killing Eiji would be the worst punishment imaginable. Even if they tortured Ash, even if they subjected him to more assault at Dino’s hands; it would hurt less than seeing Eiji die. 

Ash knew that if Eiji died, any will he had to keep living would die with him. Those evil bastards could do whatever they liked to him, but god forbid they so much as lay a single finger on his beloved Eiji. 

The sound of glass shattering pierced through Ash’s thoughts. 

Eiji had hit the bottle. 

“I did it! I did it! Ash, look! I did it! The bottle’s broken!” Eiji cheered, still holding the gun in his right hand. He tossed it down into the grass, running over to the fencepost where the shards of the glass bottle he’d shot moments ago were lying in the grass at its base, glinting in the waxing morning sunlight. 

“Did you see? Wasn’t it awesome?” Eiji asked from where he stood beside the fencepost, his voice muffled by the sounds of the waves below crashing against the rocky cliffside. 

Ash gave him an approving nod, causing Eiji to run back over panting, his cheeks flushed as he tried to catch his breath. A few beads of sweat clung to his unmarked, light brown skin, rolling down the angle of his jaw like dewdrops into the grass. 

How could _everything_ about someone be so fucking perfect? Ash swore he’d started falling for Eiji all over again in that moment. Even when the sweat from his face made his hair stick to his forehead and cheeks, he looked impeccable, as if he were an angel sent down from heaven.

Ash had no idea how it was possible. 

“Think you can do it with no help from me this time?” Ash questioned, cocking an eyebrow as a defiant smirk crept onto his face. 

Eiji looked up at him, his curious eyes wide, as with his smile. “Mhmm! Although you were holding my arms last time, so I’m not sure about the recoil...” he trailed off, picking the gun up out of the grass. 

“Don’t worry. That one’s pretty easy to use for someone who’s just starting out, so the recoil won’t be too bad. Just hold it tight and you’ll be fine,” Ash reassured. 

Eiji gave a determined nod, assuming the same as he had the previous time. Ash stood a short distance away, ready to give him any guidance if he needed it. It was hard not to glue himself onto Eiji like a protective mother hen. He seemed so soft, so innocent, so naïve to the cruelty of this world. Ash wanted to protect him, to keep him from the unspeakable evil he knew people were so capable of. 

By now, the sun had risen above the horizon, and was inching into the cloud-dotted sky above them. The cool summer breeze brushed against his skin, bringing with it memories of the days when he was a boy. 

That childhood he’d so wanted to cling to had raced by, ending when he was eight years old. 

It shouldn’t have been that way. He should have been able to enjoy the fleeting moments he got as a boy.

But of course, as he knew ever so well, life wasn’t fair. He’d only gotten to be a kid for what felt like a second, until the weight of the world was thrust on his shoulders when Griffin left for Iraq. In that moment, the bubble he’d lived in was broken, and he realized how unkind the world was. How cruel was whatever being that breathed life into their bodies to send his brother overseas to fight a pointless war started over something that didn’t matter. 

How even more unkind, then, to send Griffin home in the state he was. How unkind to return his dearest brother to him, only for his brain to be destroyed by the mysterious drug that they were all still searching for. 

All the memories of this place were beginning to erode any semblance of comfort Ash may have had. It was nothing but good that they were leaving this place in a few hours. 

He wouldn’t miss it. 

“Ash, is this right?” Eiji’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. 

He made his way over to Eiji, looking down at the other’s work. Ash’s well-trained eyes recognized that Eiji had pulled off reloading the gun without a hitch.

“Seems like you remember what I taught you.” The ghost of a smile once again passed over Ash’s lips, and a warm, tingling heat spread upward from Eiji’s chest into his cheeks. 

Why did Ash only ever smile around him?

Thinking about the answer filled him with a strange giddiness, not unlike the first time he’d ever vaulted in front of the entire school. 

Of course, Eiji couldn’t do that anymore. But in some respects, he was grateful for it. If he hadn’t injured his leg, he would have never met Ash. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t miss vaulting. In fact, it was the exact opposite. Still, he was thankful for every morning that he woke up to see Ash sleeping in the bed beside his own. 

He wouldn’t change it for the world. 

His muscles retaining the memory of the motions Ash had taught him, Eiji fired off the gun once more.

But he wasn’t expecting as much recoil as there was, and his bullet went off course at the last moment. The empty echo of the gunshot left him with a sinking feeling of disappointment. 

Ash took a few steps forward, placing a hand on Eiji’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. It was your first time doing it without me helping. You’re not gonna be a perfect shot every time. You just need a little more practice,” he reassured in that ever-so-comforting voice that he only used when speaking to Eiji. 

“Let me make it better.”

Ash draped his arms over Eiji’s neck, stepping in front of him as to make their faces only a few inches apart. 

Eiji blushed, “what are you doing?”

“You’ll see,” Ash teased, his fingers combing their way through the back of Eiji’s hair. 

Without warning, Ash leaned forward, pressing his lips against Eiji’s.

A sudden electric tension filled the air, and the realization of what was happening hit Eiji like a ton of bricks. 

He couldn’t say he didn’t enjoy it, and even titled his head a bit to allow Ash to kiss him better. The blood in his veins raced at lightning speed, filling his body with adrenaline. Every single synapse in his brain was firing off at once, and his heart pounded in his ribcage, sending a rush of blood up to his cheeks in a desperate attempt to cool the fire burning up inside him. 

The two of them kissed until their lungs burned from lack of oxygen. The ground spinning beneath both their feet added to the euphoria of kissing each other for the second time, the first of course having been when Eiji visited Ash in jail. 

That kiss had a purpose. This time, it was born from love, not Ash having to give Eiji a piece of information. 

Eiji liked this one more. 

The black fingers of a creeping unconsciousness scraped at the corners of Eiji’s vision, forcing him to pull away. Taking a deep breath, his legs shook, threatening to give out beneath him. Ash was panting, his still-rushing blood eager for oxygen. A soft blush dusted his cheeks, and several beads of sweat clung to his jawline and forehead, giving him an attractive, exhausted look. Ash let out a sigh as he wiped the sweat from his brow, shooting a concerned glance towards Eiji, who was still catching his breath. 

The two of them stood in silence like that for a long moment, Ash’s arms now having slid down to Eiji’s waist, holding him. 

“You okay?” Ash finally spoke, shattering the silence hanging between them. 

“Yeah. That was just...intense,” Eiji laughed, feeling a little awkward about the whole situation. 

“Was it your first time?” Ash questioned, removing his hands from where they rested on Eiji’s hips. 

“Well, besides that time in jail, yeah,” Eiji nodded. A pang of sadness stabbed into his heart upon knowing it definitely was not Ash’s first time. Even the first time the two of them had kissed wasn’t his first. 

Eiji figured Ash must’ve noted the momentary flicker of sadness that flashed in Eiji’s eyes, for he reassured the other that it was okay, and that all the other times didn’t matter. 

“All that matters is that I’m with you,” Ash breathed, resting his forehead against Eiji’s, staring into the deep pools of brown that were his eyes. 

“Don’t ever leave me. I want to be with you forever,” Eiji said with a smile, a soft blush creeping up onto his face. 

“I can’t promise anything given our current situation, but I can promise that I’ll try my damn hardest,” Ash murmured, cupping Eiji’s cheek in his hand and stroking it with his thumb. 

“Thank you,” Eiji breathed, tears welling up in his eyes.


End file.
